The Longing of the Oracle, 2024

An analogue photography archival anthology documenting each writing ritual during the year 2023-2024.

This project arose from Maria Stella’s thesis, "Endingbeginning", at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, where she explored the concept of longing and the figure of the Pythia, the Oracle of ancient Greece. Pythias’ longing serves as a guiding light, illuminating the mysteries beyond time and space. Her story, like this collection, is woven with endless threads.

We open a dialogue with the Air, the fifth element, the very essence that connects us. We attune ourselves to the messages of the Faery Queens, those otherworldly protectors of nature who whisper songs of renewal to the winds. To free the Oracle is to address the walls holding Her captive and create a vessel for Her voice. The Faery Queens whisper in poetry, a language of multidimensional seeing…

Maria Stella’s graduation thesis is a research on lamentation and the word "longing," written in a lyrical and braided style to reflect the essence of lamentation. Include examples of artists who work with the word "longing," as well as historical references to the last oracle of Pythia, which will serve as a central point for the research on longing and the meaning of an oracle.